10 essential Arthur Russell songs

Our 10 essential series sees VF and friends of VF dive into our favourite labels, artists, genres, and scenes to pick 10 essential albums, EPs or tracks for any collection. 

American cellist, musician and composer Arthur Russell is a true visionary. Born in Iowa, before exploring the San Francisco and New York art scenes, Russell produced an inimitable diverse body of work, moving from dancefloor under the monikers Loose Joints and Dinosaur L to the experimental, unintelligible sounds of World Of Echo.

Ahead of Be With Records’ upcoming release of In The Light Of The Miracle 12″–featuring the first commercial release of two legendary remixes of Russell’s “In The Light Of The Miracle”–label boss Rob Butler shares his 10 essential Arthur Russell picks.

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Arthur Russell

“In The Light Of The Miracle (Danny Krivit & Tony Smith Mix)”

from In The Light Of The Miracle Remixes

This 13-minute remix by Danny Krivit & Tony Smith is almost impossible to describe. Is it disco? Garage house? Avant-garde? None of these tags do full justice to its sheer majesty. Stretching out the original with some unbelievably great percussive elements, until we’re in a deeply spiritual, otherworldly realm. It’s just too beautiful for words. As many have claimed, it’s the prototype for EVERYTHING.

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Arthur Russell

“In The Light Of The Miracle (Ponytail Club Mix (Part 1 & 2))”

from In The Light Of The Miracle Remixes

The “Ponytail Club Mix (Part 1 & 2)”, produced by Tony Morgan in the mid-90s, is in a more up-tempo style, with vocals higher in the mix, the BPM upped to 120 and the addition of a housey 4/4 kick drum. A 14-minute epic, you could say this is a more straight-ahead “club-friendly” mix (but can things ever be that straightforward with Arthur?!).

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Arthur Russell

“This Is How We Walk on the Moon”

from Another Thought

A breathtaking epic. My former colleague Chris, who really drove our Another Thought project back in 2021, put it best in his release notes: “It could be the moment you notice the congas, or the percussion that’s been building behind them, or maybe it’s that blast of trumpet and trombone – we realise we’ve gone from splashing around to being completely submerged in the musical world of Arthur Russell.”

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The Necessaries

“Driving And Talking At The Same Time”

from Event Horizon

A towering, melodic juggernaut and the clear standout from The Necessaries’ essential Event Horizon, which we reissued for the first time in 2017. Wonderfully capturing Arthur’s softer, more melodic approach to pop, it still totally…er…*drives* with propulsive brilliance. Like much of Arthur’s work, it’s warm, shimmering and modern; catchy, hypnotic and utterly timeless.

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Arthur Russell

“A Little Lost”

from Another Thought

Just gorgeous and, on first listen, wonderfully straightforward for someone who often delighted in challenging his listeners. Here, Arthur’s trademark vocal and beautifully distorted cello is augmented by the addition of some acoustic guitar and, eventually, we get the sneaking suspicion that we’re listening to something nowhere near as simple as it initially sounds.

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Arthur Russell

“I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face”

from Love Is Overtaking Me

Another deceptively simple, mini masterpiece that first emerged on the wonderful Love Is Overtaking Me compilation, an essential slice of Arthur in his more singer-songwriter guise. Incredibly melancholic yet somehow warming and hopeful. Basically, it’s a perfect demonstration of “downlifting”, as I like to call these pieces of musical magic.

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Arthur Russell

“That’s Us / Wild Combination”

from Calling Out of Context

Another downlifting/happy-sad wonder. It oscillates between the deeply, nakedly emotional state of its beginning and the throbbingly hedonistic abandon that it swiftly turns into. And then merges the two, quite brilliantly. You could say it’s a wild combination.

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Arthur Russell

“Let’s Go Swimming (Coastal Dub)”

from World of Echo

When one genius meets another. Arthur enlisted a disco don – the giant Walter Gibbons – to rework this sweet paean to the innocent beauty of throwing oneself into a body of water. Incorporating stabbing, often aquatic synths and all sorts of dilapidated drums underpinning Arthur’s vocals, Gibbons crafted a vital and oft-overlooked contribution to the Arthur canon.

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Loose Joints

“Is It All Over My Face [Larry Levan Remix]”

from Is It All Over My Face 12″

Man, how I love this one. So fun to play out. I’ve always preferred the “Female Vocal” version. As has been stated time and again: one of the building blocks of house. How was this made as early as 1980?!

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Dinosaur L

“Go Bang #5”

from 24→24 Music

The legendary François Kevorkian harnesses an outrageously, ahem, wild combination of jazzy horns, effervescent keys, fathoms-deep bass, buzzing hi-hats, and – can we be honest? – borderline irritating vocals, somehow, to create a faintly daft disco detonation of the most earth-shattering kind. Crucial.

The In The Light Of The Miracle 12″ is out via Be With Records on August 30. 

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